This is a great example of Nigel Slater’s recipe creation at its best. He takes takes a hero ingredient, in this case sliced preserved artichoke hearts, pairs them with a store cupboard ingredient (pappardelle), flavours them beautifully with fragrant lemon zest, basil and parsley and adds a twist. In this instance, he grates a few tablespoons of Parmesan cheese and toasts it under a grill to make crumbs which are golden, crisp, flavour bombs to sprinkle over the finished dish. If you like artichokes and pappardelle this might be worth a try. The original recipe was in the Observers a few weeks ago.
Serves 2
Ingredients
125g dried pappardelle
250g bottled artichoke hearts, drained
Small bunch parsley
Small bunch basil
1 lemon, zested
6 tbsp Parmesan, grated
1 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
A crack of black pepper
Sprinkle of sea salt flakes
A few chilli flakes (optional)
Method
Cook the pappardelle in a large pan of salted boiling water till tender, about 4-5 minutes.
While the pasta cooks, drain the artichokes, and if they are not already cut in half then do so.
Remove the leaves from the parsley and basil, roughly chop both and mix with the lemon zest.
Sprinkle the grated parmesan over a grill pan or baking sheet and place under the overhead grill for a few minutes, watching carefully until it colours (take care as it burns easily).
Remove from the grill, allow to cool a little and then scrape into crumbs with the edge of a metal spatula or palette knife to create crisp crumbs.
Warm the olive oil in a shallow pan, add the sliced garlic, artichokes and cook them for 6-8 minutes till they are starting to colour. Turn once and continue cooking for a couple of minutes.
Drain the pappardelle and gently toss with the artichokes. Scatter in the parsley, basil and lemon, sea salt, grind in some black pepper and a little dried chilli, if you like. Divide between plates and sprinkle over the toasted parmesan crumbs.
Ref: Nigel Slater. The Observer.